The 3rd class - 2018

Please continue scrolling to follow the class of 2017/18 as they progress through many experiences involving our natural resources as well as their boat-building journey.

Harvesting apples

Our school grounds have several good apple producing trees we maintain for producing cider each fall.

Washing and grinding

After a quick wash the apples are loaded into our grinder in preparation for pressing.

Pressing the Pulp

The ground apples (pulp) are pressed to produce gallons of delicious cider.

On a beautiful fall day, the Natural Resources class plus the Ag/forestry class made the trip to Soo Junction and boarded the Toonerville Trolley for the train ride to the Tahquammenon River and the Cathedral Old Growth Forest. Kris and Dixie Stewart guided us through their little piece of heaven teaching us about the history and ecology of the forest and the bog.

Slideshow

Below is a slideshow that follows the class through each step of building the pirogues, paddles, and seats. As the class progresses, updates will be made that will include our spring launching and camping trip.

Independent Projects

Each student is required to identify an issue within our local environment, school or community then design a solution to improve that issue and by year's end, implement that solution. Below you will find a description of each student's project. As each project develops, a slideshow following each students progress will be posted.

Levi will be expanding and improving our maple syrup operation as well as teaching the subject to Mrs. Kelto's 4th Grade class.​

Waylon is improving the habitat for small fish in our Quarry Pond by building and installing underwater fish cribs.​

Joe is improving Wood duck reproductive rates by building and installing nesting boxes in a local wetland.​

Austin is monitoring and harvesting the fish and watercress from the large boiler room aquaponics system. In preparation for next year, he will also be doubling the size of this system.​

Kyle will be teaching a class about the history of sport fishing, lure making and fish habitat. Each student of this class will be making their own wooden fishing lure.

Alek is improving the quality of our school forest trails by removing large rocks, creating more signage and upgrading our maps.​

Henry is fixing and maintaining our wind turbines as well as the classroom aquaponics system it supplies power to.​

Wade is improving the habitat for Mason Bees by planting native flowering plants and building mason bee nesting structures.​

Dylan will be adding to our continual improvement of whitetail deer habitat in the school's East Forest by planting more conifer and apple trees for food and cover.​

Ramsey will be building a multi tiered growing platform in the hoop house to make more efficient use of our space.

Utilitarian ArtA new addition to the class this year are utilitarian art projects. This type of art simply refers to articles that serve a useful function that have been constructed and decorated to the point where they are considered works of art. This art form is often associated with the nomadic cultures of people like the Inuit of the far north and the Native Americans of the great plains that often elaborately carved and/or decorated the items they relied on for survival. The construction of things such as clothing, baskets, knives, harpoons, etc. were not only expertly crafted for usefulness, but also beauty.Each student in this year's class has chosen and designed an item and are now in the process of construction. This year's projects include burl bowls, wooden spoons, and fishing lures. The slide-show below will be updated as the projects progress.

​Community Presentation Night

The Life Jacket Fashion Show

Our Annual Spring Outings The following slide show includes both the maiden voyage of the pirogues on the school's Quarry Pond and our camping trip on the Autrain Basin.